Hailing from the city’s South Side, LisaRaye McCoy got her start as a model and businesswoman before heading to Los Angeles to become an actress.
Hailing from the city’s South Side, LisaRaye McCoy got her start as a model and businesswoman before heading to Los Angeles to become an actress. She landed roles in movies such as Players Club, as well as starring in the sitcom, All of Us. She quickly became a favorite among fans.
In 2006, she became a first lady when she married Michael Misick, the premiere of Turks and Caicos Islands. McCoy was thrust into a life she said she wasn’t prepared for but embraced with open arms. “I was learning to be a new wife and a first lady with no protocol person. I left all my family and friends to learn something totally different so I felt a little like Green Acres,” the actress told the Defender.
McCoy said she increased revenue to the West Indies islands while raising tourism by 41 percent, something she is very proud of.
“I started the film and music festivals, gave the island their first carnival, and built the first and only movie cinema called the LRaye, named after me. I brought awareness to Turks and Caicos,” she explained.
But the enchanted life that she shared with her husband came crashing down as rumors of infidelity, corruption and sexual assault ripped through their marriage. The couple eventually separated, leading to a sordid divorce.
“When you get a divorce, that is disappointing within itself but when you are fighting the man that is running the country, that is a different story,” she said.
Since her marriage has ended, McCoy has shifted gears and is preparing to re-introduce herself to fans and the television entertainment industry through her reality show on the TV One cable network entitled, LisaRaye: The Real McCoy.
She was in Chicago at the DuSable Museum last week promoting her new show.
“My reality show is a true reality of a woman that has actually gone through some things and is embarking on a new adventure. It is a grown reality show,” said McCoy, who explained that she put her acting career on hold when she became first lady. And no subject is off limits on the reality show, as she said viewers will see McCoy raw and uncut.
On the show, fans will see the special relationship she shares with her 20-year old daughter, Kai, and will watch as McCoy helps to keep her incarcerated sister, hip hop star Da Brat, on track. McCoy also gives insight into what happened with her friendships with actress Vivica A. Fox and talk show diva Star Jones and McCoy’s struggle to put the aftermath of her divorce behind her.
“This is my story that I want to get out. There are things that I need to put in proper perspective. And if you want to hear that story, you have to hear it from the horse’s mouth and I am that horse,” McCoy said.
She is also spreading her wings with other business ventures.
“I started a social networking organization called B2B (Back To Business). It’s showing us how to network and barter. I’m taking everyone to Puerto Rico for Memorial Day weekend and we will have seminars, concerts, etc. I’m trying to bridge that gap,” she told the Defender.
Even through the media firestorm, she maintains a huge amount of appreciation for her ex-husband and love for the people of Turks and Caicos.
“I learned a lot from my ex-husband. He was phenomenal and treated me very well. He introduced me to his country and I will forever be appreciative. I love Turks and Caicos. You don’t spend years somewhere to turn your back on it,” said the former first lady.
Despite all that she has endured, McCoy is still open to marriage.
“People keep asking who is going to fill the shoes of a president. I don’t know. I’m not worried about it. I know it’s going to come and he is going to wisk me away like Calgon,” she said.
LisaRaye: The Real McCoy is set to air on TV ONE Thursdays at 8 p.m.
Copyright 2010 Chicago Defender
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